This present invention relates generally to an edible food mix and, more particularly, is directed to a coating mix which is to be applied to pieces of skinless chicken prior to baking and to a method of using this coating.
Chicken is a relatively inexpensive and low-fat source of animal protein. Many prior art patents have disclosed coating mixes for use with pieces of chicken with skin and designed to impart the appearance and texture of fried chicken to these coated chicken pieces upon oven cooking. In this manner frying, along with its attendant oil uptake, is avoided and the cooked chicken has a lower calorie and fat content as compared to fried chicken. These coating mixes typically contains farinaceous components as the major ingredients, with bread crumbs and flour constituting the bulk of the farinaceous ingredients. Examples of such mixes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,640,837 to Coleman et al.; 4,496,901 to Rispoli et al.; 4,218,485 to Lee et al.; 4,208,442 to Evans et al., and 4,068,009 to Rispoli et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,242 to Jarvis et al. describes a coating mix which contains a high level of gelatin and does not contain, in one form, any granular farinaceous ingredients. This mix is designed for application to chicken with skin and, as a result of its high gelatin content, produces a cooked coating which has a chewy, leathery texture.
Due to the fact that most of the fat contained in chicken is present in the skin, it has become increasingly popular among consumers to either remove the skin from chicken prior to cooking or to purchase skinless chicken pieces. It would be customary to then either pan fry, saute or grill these pieces of skinless chicken. These skinless chicken preparations are generally not regarded as highly by consumers as chicken with skin preparations.
It would be desirable if skinless chicken could be prepared in a manner that presents to the consumer the appearance and texture of real chicken skin after oven preparation. This option has not previously been available.